When people try argue against veganism

[Vulpecula]

May I ask how you "tell people you are vegan"?
You may be presenting it in a manner which inspires a defensive response.

I think if plants screamed when you cut them, people might feel differently.

I think I would simply respond with, "Eat what you wish. Grant me the same respect and freedom of choice."

[imawonderer]

Originally Posted by Vulpecula

May I ask how you "tell people you are vegan"?
You may be presenting it in a manner which inspires a defensive response.

I think if plants screamed when you cut them, people might feel differently.

I think I would simply respond with, "Eat what you wish. Grant me the same respect and freedom of choice."

Well i told my friends im vegan thats it so they know that i cant eat certain foods and cant go out to eat in certain places.For instance we went subway and i didnt get anything because there is nothing to get and when my friends were eating my friend had a reason bring up why im doing it and i told her but then she kept talking and talking about it which alot of it was based on opinion rather than evidence. i even told her than its best to leave it because i will have my views and she will have hers but she still carried on talking but i didnt even listen anymore and just zoned out because i dont want to hear any of it.

[mogenblue]

Originally Posted by imawonderer

Well i told my friends im vegan thats it so they know that i cant eat certain foods and cant go out to eat in certain places.For instance we went subway and i didnt get anything because there is nothing to get and when my friends were eating my friend had a reason bring up why im doing it and i told her but then she kept talking and talking about it which alot of it was based on opinion rather than evidence. i even told her than its best to leave it because i will have my views and she will have hers but she still carried on talking but i didnt even listen anymore and just zoned out because i dont want to hear any of it.

Tewwible, just tewwible. ;)

Maybe you could point them to the healthy eating plate over at Harvard. Maybe that helps.
If you look at their about page you will see the editorial committee are all professors.

[Vulpecula]

Originally Posted by imawonderer

Well i told my friends im vegan thats it so they know that i cant eat certain foods and cant go out to eat in certain places.For instance we went subway and i didnt get anything because there is nothing to get and when my friends were eating my friend had a reason bring up why im doing it and i told her but then she kept talking and talking about it which alot of it was based on opinion rather than evidence. i even told her than its best to leave it because i will have my views and she will have hers but she still carried on talking but i didnt even listen anymore and just zoned out because i dont want to hear any of it.

Yeah.. you could not be flawed for that at all. Thank you from everyone for not pushing your views, a lot of vegans do. Even if their contention was valid, perhaps their diet was based on their ApOE genotype, as mine is, and must involve meat... that's still their choice. They should respect yours, even if they don't agree with your reasoning.

One of the truly ironic things I find everywhere is that our laws often hold up the right for certain freedoms that we enjoy, yet we deny others the same. People eh.

Unfortunately all I can suggest is to perhaps point out that they have their choice, you have your choice and your friendship is more important than an argument and they please leave it be. Then quickly, change the subject.

If they really want to push it, ask them to explain why they feel they must change your mind. Make them face their biases. That can backfire and may make them very upset. (Cognitive dissonance) But I feel you understand that.

Good luck.

[Tobi]

If ever it comes up as discussion, I always say that I am vegan because of my own personal feelings about animals and connection with animals.
I have a friend who eats meat. He likes meat very much. I never tell him what he should or should not eat or choose to do. I only let him know what I choose to do, and only when dinner is involved. He completely understands, and has started to get interested in Quorn mince/sausages/burgers which make a nice vegetarian (though not vegan) dinner. Now he is trying out recipes with this stuff. He did that of his own accord. I didn't lecture him.

[Vulpecula]

Unfortunately many people personally identify with their likes and dislikes, they make their opinions aspects of their selves and if you perchance collide with one of their so dearly held opinions, they experience cognitive dissonance and go on the warpath.

Helloooo ego!

[Gem]

Originally Posted by imawonderer

Hello,

Whenever i tell people I am vegan they always try to argue against it and they bring up really unreasonable things and i rather not discuss about it because they will have their opinion and i will have mine..

However i need help how to respond to this
when they say that plants are alive/feel too (and that there was studys done on that)
so how could i respond to that?

Tell 'em you're a vegan and you don't particularly care to hear their opinion.

[vegmaste]

I feel like I can speak to veganism well but there are really great resources out there. I usually take a health angle to veganism first and my go to for the health aspects are referring to the documentary Forks Over Knives and if they want quick hit facts I will refer Dr. Michael Greger's YouTube channel NutritionFacts.org

[coelacanth]

I don't really bring up my diet unless someone takes notice and asks. And I try not to argue - I just say that I don't eat meat or animal products for personal and philosophical reasons. That's not really controversial, since a lot of those philosophies are pretty mainstream. Also, if you do have a discussion about eating meat, don't do it while you're supposed to be eating.

Also I've found that some vegans and vegetarians - especially new ones - tend to come off as condescending or aggressive in tone when they explain what they do. It's often unintentional, but it still puts people off. I didn't consider plant-based diets for a long time - not because I didn't care about animals or the environment, but because the people I had to interact with to get information were so obnoxious. If someone asks me why I don't eat meat, "I eat this way for philosophical reasons" is an acceptable answer. "I eat this way because I value all lives (unlike you)" is not.

Humans are not raised vegan (with few exceptions), and entirely plant-based diets are a relatively recent phenomenon. (So is the mass farming of meat, BTW.) So even though it's very frustrating to hear bad arguments, you have to remember that you were just like them at one point. It's a cultural norm that people don't really question. It doesn't make them bad or stupid though.

[SoulsInMotion]

I'm moving toward eating predominantly veg and fruit and plant based, but I'm never going to call myself vegan or vegetarian, for the same reason I don't call myself a christian. I borrow the good I see in a philosophy and make it my own. I also dislike labels because they rarely describe anything well.

These days it's almost a necessity to make it the large part of your diet purely because of how prevalent disease is, and how much points to such a diet slowing or even reversing the progression.

IMO the best thing anyone can do is learn to listen to their own body, it will tell you when you are eating **** and when you're healing it. It takes a lot of patience and trial and error but that's how I have done things for nearly 10 years and my diet has transformed rather significantly in that time.